New Computer

So all is well and i finally got my new computer. I have been here at Cooper's landing for almost a week now. My plans were to leave today but now it may be tomorrow until i go. Had a rather long night and got awoken around 3a.m. Going to try and get everything together and leave first thing in the morning.

OK heres what everyones been waiting for the pictures! I am adding them all and will label them later. Enjoy!

Still Trouble

So were still not able to get my computer online. Im posting today from a place called Cooper's Landing which is a boat dock, store, and camping spot with all accomodations. Wednesdays(which is when i arrived) they even do a music thing where they play a lot of blues and every one stands around the fire and has a good time. I will be here another day due to bad weather. Guy who owns the place is real nice and is even going to put me up inside tonight so i dont have to be in rain. We are going to hopefully pick up new laptop in the morning and ill be sending the old one to my mom. So these updates will be more often.

Sorry to all i had no idea when i started this i was going to have so many computer problems.

No Connection

Bear with me folks For some reason my computer wont let me get online so i havent been able to post. As soon as i run into some one who knows more about computers i will post as much as i can. Borrowing the guys at the bed and breakfast to make this one. I am alive and well and have been having quite an adventure. I am right now in Bluffton Missouri its been a long hard journey but also fun and ive met some real nice god fearing people along the way. If your ever this way on the trail make a right turn to the bed and breakfast. Doug has campsites, rooms, warm showers, laundry facilities, can build bon fires and hes pet friendly. Its called Rendleman Home B&B. Nice guy who is very accomodating.

1 Day to Go

Here i am at home being melancholy. With just a day to go before i leave i find myself thinking of the friends ill be leaving behind and the hometown i may not see again for years. And of course i worry. Worrying doesnt help anything but i still find i do it. I know tomorrow when i ride off im going to have to look forward and not look back . Ill have to leave the past behind and turn my thoughts towards the future. Ill have to once again be strong and think of how things are going to be and not how they were. With my journey riding a bike ill be able to look forward to seeing whats just around the next corner.

This will be the ultimate journey of all the adventures ive taken. I wont be on a bus or a plane going anywhere. I will have to use physical and mental strength instead of buying and paying for what i need. There wont be a hotel room to return to every night but instead a camp to set up and a sleeping bag to lay my body on. And at the end of this journey i wont be getting on that plane to return home but starting a whole new life. This is the first leg of my new life and another adventure.

I have prepared myself and my bike as much as i can now its in gods hands. All i can do is pray and hope everything works out. Like i always say i will be traveling with god. So im putting my life into his hands and praying for the best. And today i wait for tomorrow and i do the last minute things that need doing. As im out and about today ill be looking around and taking pictures in my head to sustain me on those days when i become homesick.

The count down is over for we're to the final day............Next time i write it will be from the road.

My Bike and Shower Hosts

So i got my bike back. Karl did such a good job on my bike. He attached a bike rack to it even though he had to do extra work to get it on. Karl is the owner of a bike shop here in St Louis http://ambicycles.blogspot.com/. Its just a little corner shop but hes very accomadating and does fine work. Hes located in a hip little neighborhood that has coffee shops a natural food store and many restaurants to chose from. Karl is one of those people you have to get to know but once you do you realize his knowledge of bikes is just fantastic! He has done everything to my bike that needed doing for this trip plus some. He even corrected things id did wrong when i put it together. He has turned out to be an all around great guy. So if your ever in the area stop in and say hi. Seems i just cant say enough good stuff about this guy! And he has maps of the area available if you need them and hes right across the street from a large cyclist friendly park.

Heres to the people at http://www.warmshowers.org . I put out emails to a lot of them that offer showers to cyclists when your on the road and ive gotten so many positive responses im just in awe. So looks like i wont have to be stinky while im traveling. I have a list of hosts i will be visiting and spending a bit of time with. All of them are good people and their quick responses to my emails has just been great. So if your looking to take a bicycle trip anytime soon check out this site and email these people. And if you can host some one for a day or two or just offer a quick shower please do so. The little things like a warm shower and a safe place to pitch a tent mean so very much. My hats off to the people involved in this!

So as the time gets closer to me leaving i am feeling more and more calm. I figure it all comes from the assurances from the bike shop that my bike will hold up and the knowledge i will have a place to take a shower every now and then. And that im all ready to go and every last little detail is taken care of. Now i can fully concentrate on the trip. I leave Saturday afternoon and even the weather looks like its going to cooperate with me. Its suppose to be in the low sixties which will be great weather to travel in. So my wish for sun is going to come true. LOL

Just two more days...........

My Trailer

So here is my heavily loaded down trailer. I dont think its too much but i guess ill just have to wait and see til i get going just how much is too much. I figure if it becomes a problem i will scale it down and mail some of my stuff ahead of me. Seems like i keep scaling down! Ugh i wish now id gone with one of the childrens trailers where the bulky stuff could be loaded in and every thing would have been covered over. For now i plan on using bungee cords to hold all tarps down on top of the bulk. The sleeping bag and things i plan on bungeeing to the front. Thinking put in bag first? Not to sure guess ill have to wait and see how it will work.

So my bike is back in the shop! No nothing wrongs with it. Im having a back rack attached so i can carry some things on the bike. Seems my handlebars just arent equiped for a basket. And i so wanted one. Guess it comes down to you cant always get what you want. LOL As you all can tell i want to be able to carry with me as much as i can to make me comfortable when im camping out.

So the closer i get to starting this the more i worry about things. Will i be able to accomplish everything ive planned and will my bike make it ok? No matter what happens though at least i will have tried something not many would attempt to do. This actually gives me courage the lone warrior thing. And of course the unknown factor. Ive always been a lets attempt it and see if its possible kind of person. LOL And with my camera along for the ride i will have a document of my journey to look back on years from now. I will do my best to post pictures as often as possible. That way everyone can see what i see.

So we are getting closer to start time..... A few more days and i will be on the trail..............

For My Friend On Plan B Blog

Found this on a blog ive been following of some adventurers who have also embarked on a new path in life. If anyone wants to check out their blog its at http://pathlesspedaled.com. They have been traveling for several months.


" The Great Fear is what stops people in their tracks. It is what turns dreams into dust."


So my friend let us fear not and move ahead with our own adventure in life!

My Trailer

So it finally came! Was so happy immediately started putting it together. Noticed a piece was bent. didnt think nothing of it. Got it almost together realized the bent piece was going to be a problem. So i got out the pliers and the hammer. Spent the next hour or so bending it back into shape. Finally got the other piece to fit on it barely. So out comes the trusty hammer. Couple whacks it on. And when i was taking the tires off this morning realized it fits perfect because i can take the piece on and off! Job well done.

So after trailer was together spent the rest of the night trying to figure out how i was going to load it and what i was taking. Id already scaled down the food once and i wasnt doing it again. So i scaled down on my clothes. And i figured out a way to get canned goods in there that wouldnt fit anywhere else. All the empty spaces around gear are now full of canned goods. LOL So its a little bulky and ill have to use bungy cords but it looks like ill be able to take everything planned plus some. Should be a site coming down the road. LOL Glad i bought the flag. At least ill be seen. Ill have my tent, chair, and sleeping bag bungeed to sides but because they dont weigh anything it will work out ok.

Dreading today. Got to move rest of stuff to storage and then go by bike shop and get spare inner tubes and a basket for the handlebars of my bike. More money being spent i didnt want to spend. Didnt even want to get up this morning wanted to pull covers back up over head and just go back to sleep. But being the way i am once im awake im awake. When i realized i wasnt going back to sleep i got up and began this long day. As im sitting here drinking my coffee i keep thinking on how the other cyclists might portray me but u know what that doesnt really matter all that matters is that ill be taking my trip my way. This is my big chance to have an adventure and im going to try and enjoy it to the fullest.

Im glad my son and i were always wanderers when he was little because now that im leaving Missouri id hate to one day say theres something here ive never seen. Weve probably been places many dont even know exists. Im one of those people who like to see what there is to see and not miss something because your afraid to get into trouble or your not suppose to be there. Some rules are just meant to be broke. Exspecially when it things that are so easily accessible.
I know one day ill probably come back here because after all this is my hometown. I imagine though when i return things will have changed so much ill not even recognize it. Im being a little melonchaly this morning but as it gets closer to time to go i realize how much ill miss my hometown because after all it is my home. This is where my fathers from and his father and his father before him. There have been many generations of us born and raised here. Theres not many left now but the memories will always be with me. I had the good fortune of knowing most of the generations before they passed and i was a quiet listening kid so i remember the storys. On my journey i will be carrying their memories with me. And from time to time ill tell those stories to all whod like to listen.

Forward we go into a new life with a new journey. And were counting down to four days to go.............

Riding Companions

Hello all its been a harrowing last couple of days. Ive been on pins and needles since Saturday and i told the land lady i was moving. I thought she had taken it well but it looks like i may have been mistaken. She called me at ten am to bitch about something that didnt even make sense. So now im doing everything i can to avoid here until Saturday when i leave.

Was on the bike forum last night giving out a route i had from here to Texas to a pal who was interested. Found out hes taking the trip himself in the next couple of weeks. Asked if he could move trip up and he said yes. So looks like part of the way i have a companion for my ride. Then of course i have a few friends meeting me down by Texas who are going to ride a distance with me to. Im happy to find my trip has generated interest. And its always nice to have others to chat with while your riding. Now my mother wont have to worry so much. LOL I am quite grateful to have found another who wants to ride this path with me. And i think god might have been at work here too. Come to find out the pal who is riding with me was scared to do this by himself. So god led us to one another and all my friends out there worrying about me being alone wont have to worry anymore. And like i always say i wouldnt have been completely alone god would have been riding with me.

So ive found another community of friends on the bike forum. These people have been a joy to talk to and so very helpful.

Was checking the weather and it looks like its going to be a good day to start this journey Saturday. Im quite happy about that. Wasnt exactly relishing riding in the cold. I love to be outside when its nice and being on a bike in the sun will be even better. There is just nothing better than a warm kiss from the sun on your face on a sunny day.

Ok so we are at 5 days and counting.......